SCIENCE FAIR 2016

All 7th and 8th grade students in the Haverhill Public Schools will be participating in a Science Fair
this school year. The display of the Science Fair at Nettle Middle School is tentatively scheduled for
Friday, April 29th. This is meant to be an important and enjoyable part of your science education this
year and participation is mandatory. You may work in groups of 2-4 with peers from your class period
to complete your project. The experiment, journal, and visual display board should be completed on
students own time, but the lab report write-up will be completed in class. All projects will be inquirybased, meaning that they should answer a question or problem by designing and performing an
experiment that follows the scientific method. A list of subjects to choose from will be offered, but your
topic choice is NOT limited to the list.
Note that the following exclusions apply:
no use of explosive, combustibles, dangerous, or toxic materials
nothing may be ingested or inhaled
you may not work with any vertebrate animals (including mice and fish)

COMPONENTS
JOURNAL (ongoing throughout entire process, brought to class daily, presented at Science Fair)
Students should keep one journal for the group (a composition book from the dollar store works great!)
that includes the date and a signature for each meeting or research period. For example, if the group
meets to brainstorm topics, someone should take notes in the journal along with a date and signature. If
the group checks on their experiment every day for a week, all notes should be recorded in the journal.
The journal will be presented along with the final presentation board.
EXPERIMENT (completed at home, raw data due in class March 28)
The experiment must be scientifically sound with variables that have been identified and controlled. The
process should be well thought-out. Students will have periodic check-ins with the teacher throughout
March to be sure students have a feasible research idea.
LAB REPORT WRITE-UP (completed in class beginning March 29)
To ensure that students have adequate support to write a quality lab report, this portion will be
completed in class with guided homework assignments. All raw data from completed experiments
should be brought to class March 28.
VISUAL DISPLAY BOARD (completed at home, due April 14, presented at Science Fair)
Each group is expected to present a tri-fold display board at the Science Fair. Format requirements will
be reviewed in March. It is also important that all group members understand their topic and can
answer questions for judges (see judging rubric).